"Liv!" Zach yelled throughout the atrium as soon as he burst through the door. No answer. He ran to the bedroom, the kitchen, but Liv was nowhere to be found.  

"Buongiorno!" Mr. Moretti's booming theatrical voice echoed throughout the atrium as he stepped in with a brightly shining purple toga wrapped around his large frame, and a golden laurel wreath resting on his head. "Come, my boy. Let us ride to the games to honor the coming of Flora." he ushered.

"First I need to find Liv. It is very important," Zach tried to explain. But Mr. Moretti already had some people wrap a bloodred cape around Zach's shoulders, without paying his words much mind. "You'll see her after the games, my boy."

"No!" Zach insisted. "I need to see her now. Please, Mr. Moretti, it is important."

For a moment the old man glared at him before a smile crossed his lips and he let out a raspy laugh. "Oh, I get what this is about. Very well, if we leave now you can probably see her before the games."

"Thank you," Zach exclaimed following the large man to the golden chariot that awaited them. The two- conveyance was drawn by two majestic horses, both clad in the same shining armor as the chariot's design. The sun reflected off the shiny surface, creating the illusion of a golden sun passing through the streets of Rome, with a loudly bouldering man at the reins. Zach stood beside him, holding on to the chariot for dear life.

Staring out over the crowd below them, he realized that within hours this city had changed from his personal hell to a tiny bite of heaven. The air was delicious, filled with the scent of the millions of flowers decorating every window.  Each side of the street ran rivers of people, their shirts, and clothing reminding Zach of gelato colors. Some of the kids had dressed in Roman attire and came running up to the chariot, waving, throwing flowers and cheering him on. Sheepishly Zach waved back, humbled by their admiration. Mr. Moretti had really outdone himself on the Ludi Florae, it seemed that the whole city had gone back in time, if only for a day.

As the chariot slowed down to come onto the Forum Romanum, Zach spotted a cream tunic with fiery red hair, weaving through the crowd. "Liv! Olivia!" He called out, but his voice was drowned in the encreasing volume of the music. Without thinking twice, he jumped off the chariot, craping his knee on the way down and stumbled through the crowd. Pushing people away, his vision was solely focused on that familiar red hair in the distance. 

He yelled her name again, picking up the pace out of fear that he would lose her. When at last, the crowd parted for him, he managed to grab her shoulder, spin her around, and stop. The brown-eyed woman staring back at him was not Liv. She was just a spectator, dressed for the festival. Deflated, he got back to the chariot as his mind flooded with questions. Where could she be? How would he find her in this crowd? Was everything okay? 

Tuning out Mr. Moretti's never-ending monologue, Zach kept scanning the crowd, hoping, praying he would find her. Soon.

The tavertine limestone of the Colosseum soon cast its shadow over him as Zach was led by Amar to one of the former hypogeum cages in the arena, where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. "Zach!" Amar called out, "are you even listening to me?"

Zach turned to face the curly-haired assistant with a wide gaze.

Amar rolled his eyes, "I just told you, that your first fight is against Lorenzo. I have a dulled gladius sword and a leather harness ready for you. Is there anything else I can get you before we start?"

"Yes, Liv." Zach replied instantly, causing the assistant's eyes to become as wide as plates. "You mean, she didn't come here with you? Where is she?"

"Mr. Moretti told me she was here. Are you telling me you don't know where she is?" Zach yelled, feeling the tension rise in his voice with every word. Something wasn't right. 

"Relax," Amar eased, "she is probably with Rachel. Let me call her." With one smooth motion, Amar pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Seconds seemed to become minutes as Zach impatiently waited for an answer, ignoring the opening door behind him, and the man who yelled his name. Even when the man grabbed him by the shoulder, basically dragging him into the arena, Zach kept his eyes on Amar, who finally responded to someone and raised his thumb to Zach.  

He forced himself to breathe a sigh of relief as the door closed, and Zach stood there on the half floored arena, with ruins on the one end, cheering crowds surrounding the other end, and Lorenzo in front of him. 

The Italian adonis was striding proudly past the audience in his leather armor. An armor Zach had forgotten to put on.

In that frozen second between stand-off and fighting Zach could see his opponent's eyes flick from smiling to predatory as they land on him, and the swords were drawn.

As soon as the bell rang Lorenzo landed blow after blow without holding back. Slashing the air with novice-like apprehension Zach stalled a few strikes but watched a wretched, stained grin split Lorenzo's lips as his blade shivered under the brutality of the adonis' compelling strength. "Take it easy! I don't want to fight you," Zach said calmly.

"What kind of a man are you?" Lorenzo spat as he landed another blow on Zach's shoulder, sending him tumbling to the ground. Rolling through the sand, obscured any details to Zach but somehow he managed to jerk his face aside in time to hear a sharp blade strike loose sand beside him.

"The kind who doesn't want to fight for someone else's entertainment," he answered pulling himself up from the ground. Zach felt like he had swallowed a pound of gravel, and his arm ached. A single touch brought him to the mortifying realization that he was bleeding. The slash where the gladius sword had hit him revealed a cut, not deep, but deep enough to draw blood and not something a dull blade could have caused.

"I truly don't see what Olivia ever saw in you." Lorenzo taunted, and in an instance, Zach's wound was forgotten. Something about that sickening tone made Zach's blood run cold.

"What have you done to her?"

Lorenzo didn't answer. Instead of waiting for a disaster to unfold, Instead of being defensive, Zach now charged with full force. Only to have his attack blocked, instantly.

"Women like her do not belong with little boys like you," Lorenzo throatily crooned, pressing closer to his face. With one push, Zach fell back into the sand, his sword tumbling out of reach. Lorenzo's blade flashed in the sunlight as he brought it over his head and hummed a low, swift tune when he brought it down. 

But before the hit could land, a red vision flew over, knocking Lorenzo off his feet.

And there she was, standing over him hand-stretched out, with the aura of a goddess; his goddess. Words couldn't begin to describe the feelings that rushed through his body as Zach took Liv's hand. He wanted to apologize, tell her how much he loved, how glad he was to see her, how much he appreciated her, but all he could do was stare at the woman before him. 

She wore almost the same leather armor as Lorenzo. Her red hair tied in a rough braid, but most importantly she smiled. She looked at him and smiled. "You didn't think I was going to let some idiot hurt my boyfriend, did you?"

"I still have a bone to pick with you," Liv snarled to Lorenzo while she picked the gladius off the ground and held it straight like a daunting horizon towards her opponent. He answered with a strike that she barely managed to dodge as the blade flashed over her head humming a low, swift tone before it was pulled back to Lorenzo's side. Liv wretched a stained grin as her blade shivered under the brutality of the compelling strength of another strike. 

Relieve came when Zach pushed Lorenzo to the ground, letting Liv catch her breath for a moment. "Thank you," she mumbled leaning on him for support.

He wanted to answer her, but a glint in the corner of his eyes caught his attention just in time to push them both out of the way of the blow. Rolling through the sand, they barely managed to jump out of the way as Lorenzo swung down again. They rolled over, scrambling for advantage when Liv grabbed a fist full of sand and flung it up into Lorenzo's face. As he stumbled back she grabbed Zach's sword, hooking it behind Lorenzo's feet to let him fall to the floor; giving her the upper hand.

Pinning the blade against his leather armor kept him down as Zach wrenched away the sharpened weapon from his hand, and Liv hissed, "you will hear from my lawyer."

Placing one hand on hers, Zach carefully drew the blade away. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I am now that you are here."

Zach reached up to cup her chin and kissed her. She tangled her fingers up into his dusted locks and deepened the kiss, as the crowds cheered on. As soon as she let his lips go Liv whispered, "let's get you to a hospital. It's time we got back to the 21st Century."

He nodded, looking up to spot Mr. Moretti in the crowd, and screamed. "Mr. Moretti! Liv and I quit with the experiment. You were wrong. The Romans did not have the best civilization, nor is it any more fulfilling than our modern lifestyle. Sure, we still have flaws and injustices in our current systems, but we have come a long way from the ancient times, where there was only one ideal you had to aspire to be."

"We now celebrate our individuality, and praise all the gods that we do!" Liv added, earning another round of cheers from the crowd.

"Now, if you'll excuse us. We'll be going to a hospital to treat this wound." Zach concluded, making his way to the now open door.

"And get some tampons," Liv added before following Zach to where Amar and Rachel were waiting for them. Amar checked Zach's wound, and Rachel was about to call for a taxi when a knock on the door drew everyone's attention to Mr. Moretti.

"So, you two are quitting?" He asked in a low, level voice.

"Yes," Liv answered, "I believe you and your nephew have put us through enough shit for one lifetime."

The tension could be cut with a knife, yet Mr. Moretti never ceased to smile even as he bowed. "I had no part in my nephews actions, though rest assured, I will punish him severely for what he did."

Liv did not waiver, her shaking hands balling into fists before Zach took them in his hands and turned to the old man. "Thank you, but if you don't mind we want to go now."

"Of course, I won't hold you up. I just came to give you this." From a hidden pocket within his tunic, he produced a white check, signed off for 1 million dollars.

Neither Liv nor Zach moved a muscle as they looked at the check suspiciously. "With all due respect, we don't need hand-outs, Mr. Moretti. We didn't make the year, so we lost."

"My boy, do you think I got where I am today by giving 'hand-outs'? I don't just give money away. But I am a man of my word."

A collective eyebrow was raised as the old man took his time before continuing, "I told you that if you remained a couple by the end of the experiment I would give you one million. This is the end, and you are still together, so you earned this."

Zach and Liv, exchanged a glance of disbelieve as they got the check in their hands.

"Now, go get Zachariah to the hospital." Mr. Moretti ushered them out, and into the waiting taxi.

"Can you believe we made it out of their alive?" Zach asked.

Liv wheezed. "No. Can you believe we are millionaires now?"

"No," Zach snorted. "I guess this trip to Rome wasn't all bad after all."

"At least it was a trip to never forget," Liv concluded with a smile, weaving her fingers together with Zach's.

Total word count: 20.727

A/N: It is done! And that nicely within the 20.000 words. I am super glad with how this story turned out, and will have a hard time parting with Liv and Zach.

Hopefully, you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day!